VCR Presentation #5
Katherine Darden
Fill in the blank.
The psychological ideas of personality are ______________ theories since they cannot be precisely tested with science, just picked up through observation.
imponderable
adj. unable to be assessed or measured precisely
Synonyms
- imperceptible
- ephemeral
- gradual
- slight
Antonyms
- ponderable
- significant
- substantial
Related Forms
imponderable (n.)
- Happiness is considered an imponderable because it can never be measured with a unit of measurement.
imponderably (adv.)imponderability (n.)
imponderableness (n.)
Origin
Latin root: pondero, ponderare, ponderavi, ponderatum "to weigh"
Medieval Latin word: imponderabilis
1794: in (meaning "not") + ponderable (meaning "able to be thought about intensely")
Find the letter of the sentence in which the word in bold-faced type is used incorrectly.
a. Four year old Carrie found it difficult to see how much milk was in her imponderable cup with a ruler.
b. The selflessness in her personality was entirely imponderable -- there was none to be found.
c. The total number of stars in the sky can't really be known because they are so imponderable.
d. I can hardly comprehend the world population and its imponderability with a new person being born while another dies less than every second.
Correct Answer: A
The structure of the sentence doesn't make sense. Imponderable is describing the cup, not the measurement with a ruler.